According to the company's vision statement, "Our campus areas are unique, world-class meeting places of research, teaching and development implemented with respect for high social values". High social values include the principles of protecting the man-made cultural environment and clean nature and fairness in business operations towards all stakeholders, including the company's own personnel. This vision statement calls on the company to also invest financial resources in achieving these goals.
A significant proportion of the company's environmental and social responsibility objectives will be linked to the goals of our customer, Aalto University. The University has begun work on preparing a sustainable development implementation plan, which is likely to be completed by the end of 2011. A key measure in these efforts is the carbon footprint, and achieving a marked reduction in the carbon footprint in all university operations is an overriding objective. At present, no specific targets or metrics have been published.
While the company's decision-making is restricted in certain ways by business principles, the company considers it essential to remain at the forefront of development by also investing in solutions that may not result in optimal profitability in the short term but will yield a positive outcome for long-term operations. Such solutions include the use of experimental energy sources in its buildings and outdoor areas.
Identifying suitable solutions for the Finnish operating environment for reducing automobile traffic in the campus area and improving the conditions for pedestrian and bicycle traffic are among the particular challenges faced by the company. This applies particularly to the winter season, as a large part of the academic year in Finnish universities falls on the winter months.
The company also pursues social responsibility by networking with other societal actors such as cities, organisations and authorities dedicated to the preservation of buildings and nature as well as the Finnish State. By networking, we strive to remain in constant contact with society to ensure that prevailing societal values are taken into consideration in our own operations.
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